Tag Archives: New York Times

THEY STILL DON’T GET IT

Posted on January 13, 2012 | 1 comment

David Brooks, writing for the New York Times laments, Where Are the Liberals?  “This should be the golden age of liberalism” he says.  And yet, declared conservatives outnumber declared liberals by a factor of two to one.  “How can that be?” he asks.

“The Republican Party is unpopular and sometimes embarrassing” says Brooks, inferring that conservatives and the Republican Party are one and the same.  The author is perplexed as to why the foibles of the Republican Party don’t lead more conservatives to join the liberal camp.  One has to wonder what he thinks the Tea Party is all about.

Brook’s reasoning is also myopic.  The relative popularity of the two philosophies was put to a test in the 2010 elections.  The rest of us know who won that popularity contest.  And embarrassment?  What could be more embarrassing than having to grant waivers to more than 1,200 companies and over 4 million employees to excuse them from compliance with a law that was so poorly constructed there was little other choice?  The answer is granting waivers to a law your own Party rammed through Congress against the will of the people; that’s what could be more embarrassing!

“Over the past 40 years, liberalism has been astonishingly incapable at expanding its market share.” 

Now I ask what is astonishing about the fact that something that doesn’t work, doesn’t sell very well?  Mr. Brooks thinks he has the answer.

The most important explanation is what you might call the Instrument Problem.  Americans may agree with liberal diagnoses, but they don’t trust the instrument the Democrats use to solve problems.  They don’t trust the federal government.

You can bet your belly button they don’t!  And it is not just the instrument they don’t trust; they don’t trust the players either.  Holders of the liberal point of view put their faith and trust in the wisdom, integrity and leadership of an elite few, oblivious of the fallibility of man.  When it fails they blame the few.  Even after it became obvious that the Soviet Union was failing the Russian people, the left didn’t find communism to be at fault.  The problem was simply that Stalin was the wrong man for the job.

Finding a better instrument to play the liberal theme isn’t the answer to the problem.  The liberal theme itself is the problem.

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Posted in Political philosophy, Political polemics

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PORTRAITS OF AMERICA

Posted on December 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

The New York Times featured a front page story in last Sunday’s edition entitled The American Archipelago, an obvious take-off on the Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.  Solzhenitsyn’s book is the depressingly accurate first hand story of life and death in the vast system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union where millions died at the hands of Josef Stalin.  The Times author compares our current prison system and finds parallels with the atrocities of a heartless totalitarian dictator like Josef Stalin.

Please note this is a front page story in the leading newspaper in all of America and read around the world.  To a citizen in Europe for instance, the New York Times is the most knowledgeable and the most reliable authority on life as it really is in the United States.  They may not trust our government but they do trust the New York Times.

“Keep America American” may not be a very catchy slogan, but who can condemn the idea of seeking to preserve the great American culture?  Chris Matthews did by characterizing the Mitt Romney slogan as call for return to the days of the Ku Klux Klan.  Matthews’ vision of the country of his birth must be similar to that of a certain Reverend who preached at a certain church in Chicago.

The New York Times equates our imprisonment of a few terrorists who plotted to kill us with Stalin’s policy of committing large numbers of his own people to death solely for the purpose of solidifying his own power.  Matthews’ message on MSNBC is that Americanism is best exemplified by a hooded mob of racist lynchers.  With reporting like this, it is no wonder that Fox News has found such success.

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PAUL KRUGMAN GETS ONE RIGHT

Posted on December 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

Depression and Democracy is the title of Krugman’s column in the New York Times today.  I know little about the Hungarian political party known as Fidesz, but beyond that, what Krugman wrote was dead right as far as it went.  Democracy is under threat.

…the gravity of European political developments isn’t widely understood.

First of all, the crisis of the euro is killing the European dream. The shared currency, which was supposed to bind nations together, has instead created an atmosphere of bitter acrimony.

…a Europe-wide recession now looks likely

Europeans [are] furious at what is perceived, fairly or unfairly (or actually a bit of both), as a heavy-handed exercise of German power.

Nobody familiar with Europe’s history can look at this resurgence of hostility without feeling a shiver.

The ecojournalist doesn’t hesitate to use the H word either.  Krugman never was known for his political correctness, if you will pardon the pun.

…ominous political trends shouldn’t be dismissed just because there’s no Hitler in sight.

Now we must delve into uncertain territory, what the author thinks but doesn’t say.  Just which movement on the current scene does he think a figure like H best represents?  Krugman limits his remarks in the article to political parties in Europe.  Speaking domestically, would it be the Occupy movement or the Tea Party?

Spokesfolks from the left see the problems; they just don’t see the causes so they come to the wrong conclusions about the solutions.  They are looking at the malaise through a window when they should be using a mirror.

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SHAME ON THOSE GUYS!

Posted on September 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

A headline in yesterday’s New York Times reads:

“Companies Use Immigration Crackdown to Turn a Profit”

It seems a company that is providing security services in Australia for detention camps housing illegal aliens there, is charging for their services.  Shame on those guys!

If those guys want to get to heaven they should follow the example of the New York Times.  The paper has generated an operating loss of $114,000,000 thus far for the current year.  Analysts predict this morality measure will continue to improve as the losses keep mounting through the end of the year.

(psst! step a little closer.  We don’t want to start a rumor but there is story going around that Sulzi the publisher and Janet his CEO are charging for their services too.  Their salaries are more than 3 million dollars apiece.  I don’t think it costs them that much to go to work.  Shame!  Don’t tell anybody I told you.)

Ahem!  The story goes on to say the services stink.  Could be.  I know I smell something.

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DAVID BROOKS and THE LOST DECADE

Posted on September 27, 2011 | Leave a comment
David Brooks

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Give the devil his due and the devil’s domain too.  When they’re right, they’re right.  David Brooks has an excellent Op Ed piece in today’s New York Times.  The title belies the content.  The article is better than its label.

Brooks points out that “Roger Altman, a former deputy Treasury secretary, is arguing that America and Europe are on the verge of a disastrous double-dip recession”.  Republicans and Democrats are stuck in their own one cure solutions.  Democrats say government needs to spend more to jump start the economy. They always say that.  Republicans say the government needs to tax less and get out of the way, and then the recovery will begin.  They always say that.

Brooks is more disposed to the idea of throwing out the bath water, throwing out the baby, throwing out the tub, throwing out the towels, the soap, the powder, the whole ball of wax.  Then he would start anew with a flat tax.  He doesn’t say it but he describes it.  Brooks would give the whole international banking and monetary system the Ron Paul treatment and start from scratch.  But he calls it the holistic approach.  Read it if you want to see David’s solutions.

[David, did I read you right?]

Roger Altman, a former deputy Treasury secretary, is arguing that America and Europe are on the verge of a disastrous double-dip recession

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DAILY NEWS ENDORSES TURNER VS. WEPRIN

Posted on September 5, 2011 | 1 comment
Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan

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The Daily News’ endorsement of Turner vs. Weprin is the equivalent of the New York Times endorsing Palin vs. Obama.  Bob Turner is the Republican running for the seat vacated by disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner.  David Weprin is the Democratic contender for that seat and should be a shoe-in in the solidly Democratic district.  Normally, a Republican would be doing well to get 25% of the vote.  Polls show Turner at 40%.

The point is not who will win this race; that will probably be Weprin.  The point is, it is indicative of the level of discontent felt by hard-core Democrats about the political leaders of their party.  The national implications are very significant.  Ronald Reagan was once a Democrat and later said “I didn’t leave the Party.  The Party left me.”  As the Democratic Party accelerates it’s leftward turn it is leaving more and more of its people behind and some of them are beginning to realize it.

Today is Labor Day.  May God bless the working man and woman.  They are the apple pie, motherhood and are the foundation of all that is good in America.  Whether they pound a hammer, push a pen, birth a baby or cart away the trash they are the heart and soul of this great nation.  They are exceptional; and yet the current Democratic Party leader is telling them there is no such thing.

Who said the Democratic Party is the working man’s party?  The Democrats did, that’s who.  Wrong again!

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I’M FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND I’M HERE TO HELP

Posted on August 22, 2011 | 1 comment
BARACK OBAMA ON HIS WAY TO HELP

When Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman of Facebook fame resigned in disgrace, it was a foregone conclusion that his replacement would be another Democrat.  Only one in four voters in his district is registered as Independents or Republicans.  Nonetheless, it is turning out to be a race in this super-solid Democratic district that gave birth to Sen. Schumer and other leading Democrats.  The reason is broadly held feelings of deep disgust for Barack Obama among working class Democrats.  It’s a local situation with national implications.

From today’s New York Times

Dale Weiss, a 64-year-old Democrat, approached the Republican running for Congress in a special election and, without provocation, blasted the president for failing to tame runaway federal spending.  “We need to cut Medicaid,” she declared, “but he won’t do that.”  She shook her head in disgust.  “He is a moron.”

After nodding approvingly for a time, the Republican candidate, Bob Turner, signaled for an assistant to cut off Ms. Weiss.  Frustration with Mr. Obama is so widespread, he explained later, that he tries to limit such rants to about 30 seconds, or else they will consume most of his day.

“It’s endemic in the district,” Mr. Turner said.  “You can’t stop them once they get started.”

Working people can be quite forgiving of a leader’s mistakes when they believe the leader is doing his best.  People will endure a great deal of hardship from a leader who is with them in it.  But even then, there is a limit.  When working people see themselves as on a sinking ship and you yell “I’m here to help” as you speed by in your yacht, you have lost them.

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IT’S THE INTERNET, STUPID

Posted on August 15, 2011 | Leave a comment
Thomas Friedman, American journalist, columnis...

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Anything written by Thomas Friedman is always worth a read. Agree or not, he always makes you think and rarely makes you mad. In last Sunday’s New York Times he has the temerity to propose The Theory of Everything (Sort of). He just may be right (sort of).

Friedman notes the pestilent (Arab Spring) and the peaceful (Tea Party) rebellions taking place around the world and asks, why now?

It starts with the fact that globalization and the information technology revolution have gone to a whole new level. Thanks to cloud computing, robotics, 3G wireless connectivity, Skype, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, the iPad, and cheap Internet-enabled smartphones, the world has gone from connected to hyper-connected.

This is the single most important trend in the world today.

The columnist mixes in his observations of changes in the workplace and the evolution of those skills required for success. Many are falling short. At the same time the “globalization/I.T. revolution enables the globalization of anger, with all of these demonstrations now inspiring each other.”  Today, any displeased soul with an internet connection is a potential community organizer.

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LIBYA – OBAMA’S WAR

Posted on June 20, 2011 | 2 comments

The New York Times had the following to say regarding the Commander in Chief’s ordering of U.S. participation in the Libyan hostilities.

President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he [Obama] decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization.

Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” [that] required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.

Presidents have the legal authority to override the legal conclusions of the Office of Legal Counsel and to act in a manner that is contrary to its advice, but it is extraordinarily rare for that to happen. Under normal circumstances, the office’s interpretation of the law is legally binding on the executive branch.

It was strictly a matter of copy and paste from NY Times to the RandomThots post other than minor editing, within the brackets, for clarity.  You can read the original article by clicking here.

My question is – what would you have written for a headline?  Perhaps “President Defies Legal Opinion of Government Counsel’? Or how about ”Obama Acts Contrary to Law According to Department of Justice and Pentagon Attorney”.  As a former headline copy writer, I can see that’s too long.  Here’s my choice, “Obama Decline to Obey the Law”.

The Times headline — “2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate”.

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HEALTHCARE, PROFITS AND INSURANCE

Posted on May 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

 The New York Times Business page reports:
“Health Insurers Making Record Profits”

Well I hope so.

Record profits lead to record jobs. Record profits means a greater positive contribution to a growing economy than ever before. Record profits support growth in dividends, the staple of retired people depending on the fruits of their personal life savings in their end years. Record profits increase the value of a company and its shares of public ownership. When those shares go up in price it increases the value of pension plans and retirement funds. The more companies there are reporting record profits, the more companies there will be paying record taxes. Record profits are a good thing.

What happens when there are no record profits? By definition, a company that’s not reporting record profits is not doing as well as it once did. The enterprise has fallen into a state of decline. Its contribution to the national GDP is less than it was. The general definition of a recession is three quarters of negative GDP. Companies reporting lower levels of profit tend to be a drag on GDP until profits start to grow again. When companies are in a slump they postpone expansion and temper hiring programs even when the decline is judged to be a temporary state. Lower profits are not a good thing.

Somehow I suspect the Times doesn’t see it that way.

Bob B

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